Chapter 105: Midnight friction
Vince slipped back into his room at the inn like a ghost, easing the door shut behind him. The faint smell of soot and burnt ozone still clung to his burnt clothes as he changed, but the silence of the room was undisturbed, save for the soft, rhythmic breathing of Lyrielle sleeping soundly under the thick wool blankets.
He sat on the edge of his bed, wiping a thin smudge of ash from his cheek, and called up his interface.
`[BATTLE RESULTS PROCESSING...]`
`[TARGET ELIMINATED: Gideon (Scythe)]`
`[TARGET ELIMINATED: Brian (Bull)]`
`[CLAIM REWARDS? Y/N]`
Vince tapped Y.
A surge of warmth washed over his limbs as a heavy deposit of Experience Points and Skill Points flooded his core. He skimmed through the notifications, assigning his newly acquired points into his passive attributes—further refining his Kinetic Storage efficiency and scaling physical defense.
Then, his eyes caught a subtle change at the top of his status sheet.
`[HOST NAME: Vince Harlan]`
A slow smile touched his lips. Vince Harlan. The system was finally recognizing his full, evolving identity—no longer just a magicless anomaly, but a force carving his name into the bedrock of this world.
He closed the interface and laid back on the mattress, resting his hands behind his head.
He expected the exhaustion of battle to claim him, but as the minutes ticked by, his eyes stayed wide open. His skin tingled. His blood was practically humming. Absorbing Brian’s point-blank life-combustion—combined with the massive stat dump from the battle—had left his body flooded with a ridiculous amount of pent-up kinetic energy. He felt restless, wired, and entirely too energetic to sleep.
This isn’t working, Vince thought, rolling onto his side.
He glanced over at Lyrielle, who looked entirely too peaceful to disturb. Then his eyes drifted to Vetra, curled up on a set of blankets near the window.
Vince got up quietly, crossed the floor, and crouched beside Vetra. He reached out and gave her shoulder a firm shake.
"Vetra," he whispered.
Vetra’s eyes snapped open instantly, her sharp, predator-like instincts flaring as her hand instinctively darted for the dagger at her waist. But as her golden eyes focused on Vince’s face, she paused, blinking away the sleep.
"What is it?" she rasped, her voice thick with drowsiness. "Are we under attack?"
"No," Vince purred softly, a mischievous glint in his purple eyes. "I’m wired. I need a few spar rounds to clear my head, or I’m going to tear the floorboards out of this inn."
Vetra stared at him for a second, then a wide, wicked grin spread across her face. Being a wild, battle-hungry warrior, the prospect of an impromptu brawl at three in the morning was far more appealing than sleeping. Not that she had much of a choice when Vince made up his mind anyway.
"You’re crazy," she murmured, already throwing off her blanket and grabbing her leather wraps. "Lead the way."
---
They slipped out of the inn and navigated the silent, cobblestone streets, leaving the gates of Malgrath behind. Ten minutes later, they stood in a wide, moonlit clearing surrounded by towering pines, far enough from the city that the sound of breaking stone wouldn’t draw unwanted eyes.
Vetra cracked her neck, stretching her toned arms over her head as her Amber eyes locked onto Vince.
"Don’t hold back Vince," she warned, dropping into a low, aggressive stance.
"Wouldn’t dream of it," Vince smirked.
Without another word, Vetra exploded forward. She closed the distance in a fraction of a second, driving a vicious kick toward Vince’s ribs.
*CLANG!*
Vince caught her shin with his forearm, absorbing the strike’s recoil with ease. Vetra didn’t miss a beat—she twisted mid-air, using her locked leg as leverage to swing her other fist straight for his jaw.
For ten minutes, they went toe-to-toe in the dark clearing. Vetra fought like a wild tempest, throwing raw physical power, fast grapples, and relentless strikes. But no matter how hard she pushed, Vince dodged, parried, and absorbed every ounce of momentum effortlessly. His body was far too fast, his passive speed far too fluid.
As the fight wore on, Vince began to notice something.
Vetra’s breathing was getting heavy, but not just from exertion. Her cheeks were flushed dark red under the moonlight, her Amber eyes wide and dilated, her lips slightly parted as a slick sheen of sweat covered her skin.
He knew that look. For a dragon kin warrior like Vetra, the adrenaline of a high-stakes brawl wasn’t just exhilarating—it was downright intoxicating. Fighting raised her pulse in all the right ways.
Vince’s smile shifted from competitive to thoroughly devilish.
If sparring won’t burn off this energy... let’s try something else, he thought.
Vetra lunged forward with a heavy right hook. Vince didn’t block it. Instead, he dipped underneath her arm, slipping behind her like a shadow.
Before she could pivot, Vince reached out, his bare hands sliding firmly over her hips, pulling her back flush against his chest.
Vetra gasped, her body going stiff as she felt the heat radiating off his body. "What are you—"
"You’re dropping your guard, Vetra," Vince whispered dangerously right into her ear, his breath hot against her neck as his lips brushed the sensitive shell of her ear.
A sharp shiver ran straight down Vetra’s spine. "I didn’t drop—"
She tried to elbow him in the ribs, but Vince effortlessly caught her arm, pinning it behind her back while his free hand slid up her side, his fingers tracing the curve of her waist before landing with a sharp, firm spank right across her hip.
*SMACK!*
Vetra let out a soft, involuntary squeak, her face exploding into a bright, burning crimson. She spun around furiously, aiming a sweeping kick at his legs, but Vince simply leaped backward, chuckling playfully.
"You’re getting clumsy," Vince teased, his purple eyes gleaming with naughty amusement as he folded his arms. "Is it the gravity, or is your heart just beating too fast?"
"Shut up!" Vetra hissed, though her voice lacked any real bite. She charged him again, but her wild aggression had completely dissolved into flustered desperation.
Vince ducked her next wild swing, stepped into her space, and caught her around the waist, lifting her clean off her feet before slamming her back gently against the trunk of a massive oak tree.
Vetra’s breath hitched as Vince pressed himself close, pinning both of her wrists above her head with one hand while his gaze locked onto hers. The raw, heavy energy pulsing from him was suffocatingly intense.
"Let go, Vince..." Vetra rasped, her chest heaving against his, her warrior pride warring violently with the heavy, electric arousal pooling in her belly.
"Make me," Vince purred softly. He leaned in, his lips hovering a millimeter from hers, teasing her with the breath she desperately wanted to catch. His free hand slid down her thigh, his fingers biting lightly into her flesh. "You wanted to brawl, didn’t you? Show me how much fight you’ve got left."
Vetra swallowed hard, her Amber eyes wide, completely helpless against his cheeky, relentless advance under the stars. The battle-crazed warrior was thoroughly flustered, her fierce pride melting into pure, unadulterated heat.